A Brief History of Autograph CollectingThe desire to collect written works and signatures of people has been around since ancient Roman times. Many people went to great lengths to preserve the manuscripts of Aristotle and thank goodness they did! Because of the value they placed on the written word we’re able to study Aristotle’s teachings today. The first autograph book – or “book of friends” – was compiled in 1466. Autographs of friends and people a person knew would be obtained to show others who you knew. Some inscribers also ...
Authenticity: 5 Tips For Autograph BuyersWhen we began MusicGoldmine.com, we thought how great it would be to bring joy to our own and other people's lives by finding and selling cool music memorabilia. And of course we envisioned that a good portion of our items would be autographed by the artists we love and are inspired by. Early on though, we discovered some stark realities about what is out there in the marketplace. As we searched for genuine autographed memorabilia, we were shocked to find that some items being sold throu...
10 Highest RIAA Gold/Platinum Record Sales: $73K Anyone?RIAA awards have proven to be great performers in auctions in recent years. Case in point: The highest priced sale is for a Beatles Sgt. Pepper album white matte RIAA award sold for an incredible $73,214 in 2014. Also impressive, but not in our top 10 below since it was signed on its back by George Harrison making it extra special, is a RIAA single award for the Beatles "I Want To Hold Your Hand" owned by Ringo Starr that sold for $68,750 in 2015 by Julien's Auctions. Outside of ...
The Week In Music History Jan 6-12, '19The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com JAN 6: On Jan. 6. 1958, Gibson guitars launched it's "Flying V" electric guitar. This guitar has been played most famously by Jimmy Hendrix, Randy Rhoads, Marc Bolan, and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Happiest of birthdays to Kim Wilson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds (68), Kathy Sledge of Sister Sledge (60), Mark O'Toole of Frankie Goes to Hollywood (55), and Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys (33). Randy Rhoads "Flyin...
The Week In Music History: Dec 30, '18-Jan 5, '19The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com DEC 30 On Dec. 30, 1999 George Harrison and his wife Olivia were attacked in their home. An intruder broke in and stabbed Harrison in the chest resulting in a collapsed lung and minor wounds. Olivia had tried to ward off the attacker with a poker and a heavy lamp. The obsessed fan was later arrested.😲 Happy birthday to Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul, and Mary (81), Mike Nesmith of The Monkees (76), Patti Smith (72), Jeff Lynne of ELO...
This Week In Music History Apr 25-May 2The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com. Just a couple of highlights from this week in music history! APR 23: Happy birthday to Roger Taylor of Duran Duran, born today in 1961! He joined the band in 1979 and even though he has left a couple of times he has Photo courtesy Earl McGehee [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en] APR 29: Happy birthday to Willie Nelson, born today in 1933! The music lege...
This Week In Music History May 3-10The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com. Just a couple of highlights from this week in music history! May 4: Happy 70th birthday to Mick Mars of Motley Crue, born today in 1951! He’s the lead guitarist and one of the co-founders of the rock band. Photo courtesy: Toglenn [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en] May 8: Happy birthday to Alex Van Halen, born today in 1953! He is best known as the drummer and...
Concert Tickets and Passes: Small Pieces Of Music HistoryConcert tickets and backstage passes have become excellent collectibles. Most are not overly expensive and they make a great scrap book project or, even better, make for a great art piece when designed into a collage to enjoy on a wall. Like most music collectibles, the artist matters (although also always a matter of personal taste), but older dated shows from an artist's early career or particularly famous shows can be the most highly sought after. Like with most collectibles, condition...
Immortal Album Covers: The Story of HipgnosisAlbum art helped define the arrival of new music during its heyday, which ran roughly from the later 60s to the 80s when vinyl albums ruled music sales worldwide. While smaller formats such as cassettes, CDs and later streaming imposed size and format limitations on artwork since then, the contributions of visual artists to herald the arrival of new music is still fondly remembered by many. One of the most prolific groups of artists worked under the name Hipgnosis. The main partners behind Hi...
Woodstock's 50th: Peace, Love and... Music!Just this past week on August 15, 50 years ago, the legendary Woodstock festival kicked off. Held on a dairy farm in the Catskill Mountains just northwest of New York City from August 15–18, 1969, it made a lasting impression on its attendees and also led the way for festivals that followed. While the security issues, weather and sporadic sound problems informed concert promoters on how to produce future fests, the largely peace-loving crowd enjoyed an amazing and once-in-a lifetime experien...
Led Zeppelin's John Bonham Isolated Drum Tracks: Thunderous!Hey Zeppelin fans, here's a treat. This video not only contains some cool old Led Zeppelin photos, it also features the isolated studio recording of John Bonham on 1979 track "Fool In The Rain." In it you can hear Bonham's thunderous technique coupled with his excellent meter and ghost notes as he plays a version of the "Purdie Shuffle" for this tune. Famed studio drummer Bernard Purdie (James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, many more) developed this namesake beat....
A Brief History of Autograph Collecting
The desire to collect written works and signatures of people has been around since ancient Roman times. Many people went to great lengths to preserve the manuscripts of Aristotle and thank goodness they did! Because of the value they placed on the written word we’re able to study Aristotle’s teachings today. The first autograph book – or “book of friends” – was compiled in 1466. Autographs of friends and people a person knew would be obtained to show others who you knew. Some inscribers also ...
Authenticity: 5 Tips For Autograph Buyers
When we began MusicGoldmine.com, we thought how great it would be to bring joy to our own and other people's lives by finding and selling cool music memorabilia. And of course we envisioned that a good portion of our items would be autographed by the artists we love and are inspired by. Early on though, we discovered some stark realities about what is out there in the marketplace. As we searched for genuine autographed memorabilia, we were shocked to find that some items being sold throu...
10 Highest RIAA Gold/Platinum Record Sales: $73K Anyone?
RIAA awards have proven to be great performers in auctions in recent years. Case in point: The highest priced sale is for a Beatles Sgt. Pepper album white matte RIAA award sold for an incredible $73,214 in 2014. Also impressive, but not in our top 10 below since it was signed on its back by George Harrison making it extra special, is a RIAA single award for the Beatles "I Want To Hold Your Hand" owned by Ringo Starr that sold for $68,750 in 2015 by Julien's Auctions. Outside of ...
The Week In Music History Jan 6-12, '19
The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com JAN 6: On Jan. 6. 1958, Gibson guitars launched it's "Flying V" electric guitar. This guitar has been played most famously by Jimmy Hendrix, Randy Rhoads, Marc Bolan, and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Happiest of birthdays to Kim Wilson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds (68), Kathy Sledge of Sister Sledge (60), Mark O'Toole of Frankie Goes to Hollywood (55), and Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys (33). Randy Rhoads "Flyin...
The Week In Music History: Dec 30, '18-Jan 5, '19
The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com DEC 30 On Dec. 30, 1999 George Harrison and his wife Olivia were attacked in their home. An intruder broke in and stabbed Harrison in the chest resulting in a collapsed lung and minor wounds. Olivia had tried to ward off the attacker with a poker and a heavy lamp. The obsessed fan was later arrested.😲 Happy birthday to Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul, and Mary (81), Mike Nesmith of The Monkees (76), Patti Smith (72), Jeff Lynne of ELO...
This Week In Music History Apr 25-May 2
The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com. Just a couple of highlights from this week in music history! APR 23: Happy birthday to Roger Taylor of Duran Duran, born today in 1961! He joined the band in 1979 and even though he has left a couple of times he has Photo courtesy Earl McGehee [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en] APR 29: Happy birthday to Willie Nelson, born today in 1933! The music lege...
This Week In Music History May 3-10
The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com. Just a couple of highlights from this week in music history! May 4: Happy 70th birthday to Mick Mars of Motley Crue, born today in 1951! He’s the lead guitarist and one of the co-founders of the rock band. Photo courtesy: Toglenn [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en] May 8: Happy birthday to Alex Van Halen, born today in 1953! He is best known as the drummer and...
Concert Tickets and Passes: Small Pieces Of Music History
Concert tickets and backstage passes have become excellent collectibles. Most are not overly expensive and they make a great scrap book project or, even better, make for a great art piece when designed into a collage to enjoy on a wall. Like most music collectibles, the artist matters (although also always a matter of personal taste), but older dated shows from an artist's early career or particularly famous shows can be the most highly sought after. Like with most collectibles, condition...
Immortal Album Covers: The Story of Hipgnosis
Album art helped define the arrival of new music during its heyday, which ran roughly from the later 60s to the 80s when vinyl albums ruled music sales worldwide. While smaller formats such as cassettes, CDs and later streaming imposed size and format limitations on artwork since then, the contributions of visual artists to herald the arrival of new music is still fondly remembered by many. One of the most prolific groups of artists worked under the name Hipgnosis. The main partners behind Hi...
Woodstock's 50th: Peace, Love and... Music!
Just this past week on August 15, 50 years ago, the legendary Woodstock festival kicked off. Held on a dairy farm in the Catskill Mountains just northwest of New York City from August 15–18, 1969, it made a lasting impression on its attendees and also led the way for festivals that followed. While the security issues, weather and sporadic sound problems informed concert promoters on how to produce future fests, the largely peace-loving crowd enjoyed an amazing and once-in-a lifetime experien...
Led Zeppelin's John Bonham Isolated Drum Tracks: Thunderous!
Hey Zeppelin fans, here's a treat. This video not only contains some cool old Led Zeppelin photos, it also features the isolated studio recording of John Bonham on 1979 track "Fool In The Rain." In it you can hear Bonham's thunderous technique coupled with his excellent meter and ghost notes as he plays a version of the "Purdie Shuffle" for this tune. Famed studio drummer Bernard Purdie (James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, many more) developed this namesake beat....
